Master’s Thesis Presentations
The Master of Science (MS) degree at the Jackson School of Geosciences is considered to be the professional degree for a career in the Geosciences. This degree is the foundation for students pursuing employment in the petroleum industry, environmental and hydrogeological fields, state and federal government agencies, and other related geoscience fields. Some students also use the MS degree as preparation for pursuing a Ph.D.
The Energy & Earth Resources Interdisciplinary program provides the opportunity for students to prepare themselves in management, finance, economics, law and policy leading to analytical and leadership positions in resource-related fields. The private sector and government organizations face a growing need for professionals that can plan, evaluate, and manage complex resource projects, commonly international in scope, which often include partners with a variety of professional backgrounds.
As requirements for these degrees, students must present a professional talk on Master’s Thesis Presentations.
Previous presentations from 2019 to 2024 can be found here.
Master’s Thesis Presentations Agenda for Friday, April 18, 2025
- First Place: Riley Garrett, “Limited Carbon Emissions From Mineral Permafrost Upon Initial Thaw”
- Second Place: Cameron Cummins, “The Heatwave Diagnostics Package: A Novel High-Performance Tool to Quantify Heatwave Metrics Across Large Parameter Spaces”
Session A1: JGB 2.202
Session Chairs: Talita Lammoglia and Alonso Fernandez
Theme: Power, Policy & Sustainability
Session A2: JGB 2.202
Session Chairs: Romal Ramadhan and Edwina Owusu-Adjapong
Theme: Carbon Capture & Storage Frontiers
Session B1: JGB 2.218
Session Chair: Koutian Wu and Allysa Dallmann
Theme: Water & Resource Management and Climate Tools
| Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
| 2:00-2:15 | Sean Avitt (GEO) Large-scale Carbon Storage Effects on Up-dip Freshwater: Simulating Plume, Pressure and Salinity Changes in the Wilcox Aquifer, DeWitt County, Texas, USA |
Carlos Uroza and Tip Meckel |
| 2:15-2:30 | Katherine Graves (EER) AI-Driven Solutions for Groundwater Management and Subsidence Mitigation in Texas |
Suzanne Pierce |
| 2:30-2:45 | Raquel Ellis (EER) Establishing a Sustainability Framework for Produced Water Reuse |
Michael Young and Lorena Moscardelli |
| 2:45-3:00 | Cameron Cummins (GEO) The Heatwave Diagnostics Package: A Novel High-Performance Tool to Quantify Heatwave Metrics Across Large Parameter Spaces |
Geeta Persad |
| 3:00-3:15 | Amanda Pfeil (EER) Nature-Based Solutions for City Resilience: Evaluating the Benefits of Urban Tree Canopy in Austin, Texas |
Dev Niyogi |
| 3:15-3:30 | Fernando Pagan Gonzalez (GEO) Water Quality Changes and Environmental Impacts on the Boggy Creek Watershed in East Austin, Texas |
Jay Banner |
| 3:30-3:45 | BREAK |
Session B2: JGB 2.218
Session Chair: Perianne Johnson and Soraya Alfred
Theme: Planetary Geology & Petrology
| Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
| 3:45-4:00 | Sarah O’Leary (GEO) Volumetric Characterization of Zircon in Support of Detrital Geochronology |
Rich Ketcham |
| 4:00-4:15 | Paul Redman (GEO) CT, SEM, and LA_ICP_MS Map Investigation of Chondrule Rims in CM2 Aguas Zarcus |
Rich Ketcham and Romy Hannah |
| 4:15-4:30 | Melanie Garza (GEO) Sedimentological Analysis of In Situ Lunar Regolith from Apollo 17 Double Drive Tube 73001/2 using X-Ray Computed Tomography |
Rich Ketcham |
| 4:30-4:45 | Quinn Johnson (GEO) Heterogeneous Bubble Nucleation on Mafic Crystals in Rhyolite Magma |
Jim Gardner |
| 4:45-5:00 | Saleh Almeshari (GEO) Carbon Mineralization in Ultramafic Rocks: Insights from Flow-Through CT-Imaged Experiments |
Nicola Tisato |
Session C1: JGB 2.324 (Boyd)
Session Chair: Ander Martinez-Donate and Josh Malone
Theme: Sedimentology & Stratigraphy & Tectonics
Session C2: JGB 2.324 (Boyd)
Session Chair: Barra Peak and Sage Turek
Theme: Basin Evolution
| Time | Student | Advisor(s) |
| 3:45-4:00 | Natthakorn (Jack) Konguthaithip (GEO) Sedimentary Basin Evolution and Structural Compartmentalization in the Northernmost Andes: Eastern Cordillera and Magdalena Valley, Colombia |
Brian Horton |
| 4:00-4:15 | Ashlee Siddall (GEO) Provenance, Sedimentation, and Deformation Associated with a Mid-Cenozoic Hiatus in the Andean Foreland Basin, West-Central Argentina |
Brian Horton |
| 4:15-4:30 | Braden Vines (GEO) Defining Intrashelf Basin Margins – Example from the Maverick Basin/Devil’s River Trend, Southwest Texas |
Charlie Kerans |
| 4:30-4:45 | Colton Hayden (GEO) Lithium Anomalies as Indicators of Fault-Driven Brine Migration in Gulf Coast Basin Aquifers |
Xavier Janson |
| 4:45-5:00 | Taufik Al Amin (GEO) Mechanical Properties Distribution within a Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic Deep-Water Fan of the Wolfcamp A Formation, Permian, Delaware Basin |
Xavier Janson, Christopher Zahm, and Kyle Spikes |